First Impressions
by Map of my mind
Summary: Slightly AU version of how the two assassins met.


**First Impressions**

Unlike most people, the first thing he noticed when he saw her across that crowded station in France was not her fiery red hair, it was her eyes. Green, and bright and far, far too deep, not soulless like he had expected from a master assassin with more kills under her belt than him.

And even more curious, they were filled with gut wrenching despair and a well hidden but deep seated longing. They were big too, even from so far away.

All it took was one look into those big expressive eyes and he couldn't do it.

That day he told Coulson over their communication system that he lost his target, the crowds were just too large.

* * *

She had dreamed every night as she lay next to some new mark or alone in a dingy safe house, that one day things would change. She had left the Red Room, she had her freedom but it was no longer enough.

She, rather childishly, dreamed of her very own white knight, a man with strong arms, who was smart enough not to fall for every little old trick that she could pull.

She dreamed of meeting her match, somewhere out there, there had to be someone stronger, faster, better. Someone who could take her down easily, who had abilities to rival her own but chose to love her instead, her equal in every way.

Of course she was just as terrified of the idea as she was intrigued by it. Such a man would be dangerous, if he existed, particularly if he wasn't on her side of the fence, but on the flip side, that would be half his appeal

After years of being the best in the 'business' not only would it be great to have a challenge, but also if there was someone out there who could be there for her, not just another liability, but someone actually worth something.

Each night in the relative safety of her bed, in the cover that darkness created for her, she dreamed and when morning came, when the light threatened to expose her childish fantasies she threw them away.

At least for the day.

Until one day looking across a crowded station she saw her fantasies in the light of day for the first time. They had stormy grey eyes, sharp and focused and full of knowledge. One look and she was certain that he knew who she was, what she was. And then the press of the crowd separated him from her line of sight.

But she still saw him in her dreams that night.

* * *

The next time he sees her, he had tracked her to Germany, to an out of the way bar, in the backstreets of Berlin. She was wearing jeans and a T, and her whole stance was so relaxed that he couldn't decide whether she was there for business or leisure.

After 2 hours of watching from a nearby roof top, he decided it was both.

The way she was calmly and slowly making her way across the room towards a man in a dark suit and sunglasses, suggested that she had a purpose and that she had all the time in the world to do it in.

Watching the way her smile lit up her whole face when she laughed at a joke the bartender told and the light dimple that creased one cheek, he made a decision of his own.

He told Coulson that the wind was too strong.

* * *

She felt eyes on her, despite being hidden in the shadows of the alley.

She had just disposed of her mark, so it clearly wasn't him and there were no other occupants in the strangely empty street.

Scanning the area around, something told her senses to look up. And there sitting on a roof across the way, was the man with the stormy grey eyes. He had a bow in his hands, a bow aimed directly at her heart.

It wasn't until she had fled to the nearest safe house and had time to think, did she wonder why he hadn't taken the shot before she had noticed him, because from the looks of the set up he had, he had been there when she had first entered the bar.

The thought sent a shiver done her spine and straight to her belly, where it burst into hornets that reeked havoc with her insides.

That night she dreamed of a dark stranger with a bow.

And the next morning when she put away her silly dreams, grey eyes still followed her in her thoughts.

* * *

Later he would say he wasn't sure why he didn't just take the shot like he usually did, up high and out of sight, instead he came close up, arrow hovering above her heart, face to face, eye to eye.

He knew why of course but he wouldn't say.

He expected many things when he actually met the Widow for the first time, he didn't expect those beautifully expressive eyes to contain happiness, the look of a longing fulfilled.

If her eyes surprised him her words did even more so, "the white knight with a bow."

Later he would tell her he was anything but a white knight, that he was almost as dirty as she was, but for now green eyes were smiling and he just didn't care.


End file.
